More than 50 killed in Latvia supermarket collapse

As many as 53 bodies were pulled from the rubble of a supermarket, the Maxima store, in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The Maxima store covered around 1,500 square metres (16,150 square feet) and was located in a suburb of Riga in the Baltic republic of Latvia. Apart from the 51 dead, authorities confirmed that 38 others had been injured in the building collapse. More bodies are expected to emerge from the debris.

Rescue workers, including 80 firefighters and 56 trainees from a nearby firefighting college searched the rubble for trapped survivors. The supermarket had been full of shoppers when the collapse took place. The cause of the building's roof collapsing is not yet known, though initial indicators are poor construction, as well as the creation of a roof garden that may have destabilized the structure further. Latvia's President Andris Berzins criticized the faulty construction for causing "mass murder" of vulnerable citizens.